And after spending most of an eight-month stretch trying to earn some dough — and just as important, some experience — on two professional golf tours in Asia, the up-and-comer from Calgary appreciates the perks more than ever.

“My mom’s cooking, I was more than delighted to have that again,” he said with a chuckle.

Secord might ask for a second helping of whatever was served prior to Thursday’s opening round of the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada stop after he chewed a few strokes off par, firing a 3-under 68 on the familiar turf of the Talons Course at Country Hills.

Playing on a sponsor exemption this week, the 24-year-old is currently three strokes off the pace, with six sharpshooters sharing the top peg on the leaderboard after the first of four laps of the 7,209-yard layout.

The pack at 6-under 65 is headlined by a pair of locals — Airdrie’s Riley Fleming and Calgary’s Wes Heffernan — and defending ATB Financial Classic champion Charlie Bull of England. Americans Max McGreevy, T.J. Vogel and Chase Wright are also tied for the lead, while a grand total of 77 guys are under-par after 18 holes of action at the $175,000 shootout.

Secord is a longtime member at Country Hills, but he hasn’t been around much of late.

He packed his bags for Asia in November and didn’t return until early July, save for a two-week excursion to reconnect with his family in Arizona.

Secord was away for Christmas for the first time, passing the holiday by playing billiards with a buddy, both dreaming of eventually earning their paycheques as PGA Tour stars.

Along the way, he logged about 15 starts on the Asian Development Tour and the All-Thailand Tour, an education that goes well beyond how to sink more birdie putts and turn could-be bogeys into pars.

“Here, all I have to really worry about is my game,” Secord said. “The reason I went over there is to get more pro experience — dealing with cuts, dealing with travel, dealing with how to budget and all that stuff.

“It just opened my eyes to everything a pro golfer needs to do to be successful. I’ve had the great chance to meet a whole bunch of people that have been more than happy to share their experience, so it’s all coming together slowly and I’m excited for it. I just have to stick with it.”

A two-time winner of the individual title at the Canadian University/College Golf Championships during his post-secondary career with the UBC Thunderbirds, Secord is still mulling his options for this coming winter. He will likely try to earn a card on the Japan Golf Tour, but is also considering PGA Tour Latinoamerica.

He knows that he’ll reap the benefits of the on- and off-course lessons from his stint in Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand, but the minor-leagues of golf can sometimes feel like a long way from the PGA Tour — and not just geographically.

“I feel like I’m a lot more calm, more level-headed. I try not to let things bother me,” Secord said. “The caddies there were … interesting. The ladies in Taiwan, the average age of the caddies is probably close to 60, and they always take carts. So we’re walking down the fairways and sometimes they bring you the wrong club. They’ll bring you a six-iron for, like, 150 yards, and you have to send them back. It can kind of get you out of rhythm, but you just find ways to distract yourself and focus on yourself rather than what other people are doing and just control what you can control.

“That’s the biggest thing that I learned. Especially with university golf, we would do everything as a team. We would prepare for a golf course a certain way, and we would practise a certain way. But what I learned when I was over there is I can’t be doing what other people are doing. I have to be doing what is best for me. I’m slowly finding out how to best prepare for a tournament. I like to play two 18s before and then putt at a certain time and eat a certain way and even sleep a certain amount of hours.

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